Professional lawn care providers frequently have a need for broadcast spreaders for distributing wet or dry products over broad areas such as a lawns, golf courses, or sidewalks. Typical products include seeds, fertilizers, weed control products, salt for ice, sand and other topical applications. Many traditional broadcast spreaders have been manually operated where the spreader mechanism is driven by the rotation of the wheels. This has suffered from the weaknesses such as that the operator pushing the spreader may be tired, distracted or otherwise move at an uneven speed or the spreader wheels may slip on wet grass or ice, resulting in an uneven and inconsistent application of the product.
Attempts to address this problem have included attaching spreaders to powered lawn equipment or attempting to create an independently powered cart with a spreader. When a spreader is attached to other lawn equipment the operator must mechanically attach the spreader, and if the spreader is powered, must in some way connect the spreader to a power-take-off on the equipment. This requires complexity, frequent adjustment and additional maintenance and is often a source of frustration to the user. Additionally, the larger size of the assembly may limit the areas to which product may be easily applied.
Previous engines with sufficient power to propel a spreader and simultaneously broadcast product have required larger supports. Such spreaders have involved four-wheeled carts upon which a motor and spreader are mounted. Examples of such spreaders are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,405,514; 4,234,131; 4,352,463; 4,798,325 and 5,333,795. These designs have suffered from excess weight, are often top-heavy, and are frequently off-balance when used on slopes or hills where power is most needed. Further, four-wheeled carts can be difficult to maneuver in areas without much clearance and the engines have suffered from high maintenance and emission problems.
Accordingly, there is a need for a smaller, maneuverable, low maintenance self-propelled broadcast spreader. The present invention addresses these needs.